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Former charity worker jailed for teen sex assault

A CHARITY worker who sexually assaulted a young girl and took pictures of her naked friend with his mobile phone has been jailed for two years.

Anthony Nunn also had dozens of indecent pictures of children on his laptop computer and visited websites with names such as 'little virgin teens'.

Teesside Crown Court heard that the 70-year-old put his hands down the trousers of the young complainant, rubbing her bottom, and took her hand placing it next to his penis.

He also put his hands under her breasts and told her she was “beautiful”.

Nunn, whose offending occurred in the Northallerton area, worked for a York-based charity and received a character reference from one of its representatives.

He had been of previous good character and was described as having led a completely blameless and positive life up until the point his offending occurred.

Prosecuting, Tamara Pawson said Nunn was arrested on January 12 last year over the sex assault. Police discovered pictures on the defendant's phone of the victim's friend, while further indecent images were found on his laptop.

Nunn said he saw the child once in a blue moon and was “not a dirty old man”. He also claimed he had initially been looking for adult pornography on his computer when officers quizzed him about some of the search terms and websites he had been using.

He denied taking naked pictures of the schoolgirl's friend and said he did not know how they came to be on his phone.

Nunn, now of West Royal Drive, Shipley, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to sexual assault, two counts of taking indecent photos and four offences of possessing indecent photos.

Rupert Swift, mitigating, said he had been a man of good character and had entered guilty pleas to the majority of the charges he faced, albeit on the eve of his trial.

Jailing him for two years, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton told him: “You have a very unhealthy interest in young girls and what aggravates the situation is that you remain in complete and utter denial.”

The judge said Nunn gave the impression of not having caused any harm at all and had no insight into the impact of his behaviour.

Speaking of the victim, he said: “She cannot sleep, she does not feel safe. Everywhere she looks she sees you.

“You have ruined that young girl's life and it is only to be hoped that time is a healer.”

Nunn will have to register with police as a sex offender for the next ten years and was also given an indefinite sexual offences prevention order.